Customer Charged S$10.10 For Cai Png At Koufu Commonwealth Branch, Feels ‘Scammed’

Redditor Confused Over S$10.10 Cai Png At Koufu Outlet Near Commonwealth MRT

When we think of economy rice, aka cai png, we think of, well, economical prices and an affordable but delicious meal.

Unfortunately, there have been a lot of complaints about overpriced cai png in Singapore lately, such as this jaw-dropping S$20 order from Food Republic.

Recently, a diner took to Reddit to share their own experience with overpriced food court fare.

They said they felt “scammed” after being charged S$10.10 for a plate of cai png, including a pork dish that supposedly cost S$4.

Koufu Commonwealth customer quoted S$4 for pork in cai png

On Sunday (17 Sep), a user took to the r/singapore subreddit asking if there was anyone they could speak to regarding their “strangely charged cai png”.

Accompanying the post was a picture of a typical-looking plate of economy rice with several meat and veggie ingredients.

Source: r/singapore on Reddit

According to the OP, they paid S$10.10 for the dish, which they got from the Koufu branch near Commonwealth MRT station.

Source: Google Maps

This immediately made the OP feel “scammed”, so they decided to ask the staff for a price breakdown.

The rates that the cai png stall aunty shared were:

• Fried rice — S$2
• Two veggies — S$1.70 each
• Kung pao chicken — S$2
• Pork with tau pok — S$4

Strangely, the OP noticed that this all added up to S$11.40, which made them suspect that the aunty was simply “inflating the price of each dish” so that she could “justify” such a high amount.

“Who can I talk to about this strange behaviour? I didn’t see any contact number on the stall itself,” the OP asked.

Other Redditors agree that price is too high

The OP’s post drew a barrage of comments from other Redditors, most of whom agreed that the cai png price was unreasonable.

One user pointed out that economical rice isn’t actually economical these days unless you opt for the simplest and cheapest vegetable and meat dishes.

Source: r/singapore on Reddit

They also suggested going to HDB estates instead of food courts as the latter tends to be more expensive.

Another Redditor echoed this sentiment, saying they usually avoid cai png stalls in populated areas and visit those in HDB estates instead.

In reply, the OP clarified that the Koufu they patronised was actually at an HDB void deck area.

Source: r/singapore on Reddit

However, it was very close to the Commonwealth MRT station itself. Thus, as the other Redditor noted, its location may have caused “high footfall syndrome”, possibly giving the landlord an excuse to jack up the rent.

Then, there was this user who seemingly did not understand why people complained about high prices instead of just walking away.

Source: r/singapore on Reddit

Others agreed, saying that perhaps stall owners would finally learn their lesson if more people were to reject the prices outright.

And since this was still Reddit, after all, there was some room for jokes.

Source: r/singapore on Reddit

MS News has reached out to the OP and Koufu for more information and will update this article when they get back.

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Featured image adapted from r/singapore on Reddit and Google Maps.